ST0702-CS100416r #t�e�s
By Jane Moore
Coppell ISD is one step
oser to calling a tax rate elec-
)n in September, following a
ecial board meeting Monday
ght.
Board members heard an
✓erview of budget projections
id hashed out the School
istrict's options for staying fi
incially healthy without drastic
rogram cuts or unwarranted
x burdens on residents.
The District is studying the
ambers on options, including a
ne -time 13 -cent rate increase,
vo increases in separate years,
r a smaller increase (possibly
0 cents) to get by until another
icrease is necessary. Each ad-
itional penny on the rate in-
reases taxes on a $250,000
ome by $24 per year. For a 13-
ant increase_ that translates to
$312 per year, or $240 per year
for a 10 -cent increase.
Board member Bennett
Ratliff also requested a study of
what kind of rate would be
needed to get CISD, which has
run a deficit for several years,
back in the black.
"I'd like to have a balanced
budget next year," Ratliff said.
The District is also consider-
ing plans to reduce employee
raises from 3 -cents to 2- cents,
which would save about $2 mil-
lion over three years
At current staffing levels,
CISD must maintain a minimum
fund balance of about $17 mil=
lion to cover salaries from Sep-
tember to December, when tax
payments start coming in. Chief
Financial Officer Kelly Penny
said an optimal fund balance of
$20 million allows for unexpected
expenses and gives the District
a solid credit rating. If the bal-
ance drops below $17 million, the
District must borrow money to
pay salaries in the fall. Without
an election, projections for 2011-
2012 show the fund balance
dropping to $14.8 million, assum-
ing there are no changes in
school funding laws from the
state.
Board members also asked
for more information on a pro-
posal brought forth last month by
residents of Coppell Greens,
who asked CISD to consider ac-
cepting students on a case -by-
case basis who live in Coppell
city limits but in another school
district's attendance zones.
While CISD would not get tax
revenue from such students, it
would receive an average of
$5,799 from the state for each
12/26/199 _.
PUBLIC WORKS DEPT.
PO BOX 478
—ELL TX 75019 -0478 .,
TEM RESS ILSSIGM1911 MEMBER
photo by Haley Moore
Angled parking spaces and a new sidewalk line the east
side of the newly reconstructed South Coppell Road be-
tween Bethel Road and Southwestern Boulevard, which
is now open to through traffic.
1 *1 * * * * * * * * * * * * *CR LOT0001A * *b.
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ISD Poised for Tax Rate Electioni SOUTH COPPELL ROAD OPENS